In an orchestra not everyone plays the whole time, no one person is the focus of the attention, and everything is timed perfectly. Perhaps that is the joy of the orchestra. Great music is played and you never know from one minute to the next who is going to rise up in sound, then fade away so another can rise up. If everyone was the star the whole time, it would be a mess, not music.
Prior to Jesus we see John the Baptist on the scene. He is baptizing, calling people to repentance and turning hearts to the fathers. Even though he was only a few months different in age to Jesus, his ministry began earlier. It was his time to be the music that played. And the masses came to him.
Scripture says “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee” (Mt 4:12). A few verses later it says, “From that time on Jesus began to preach” (Mt 4:17).
It may just be coincidence that when the public ministry of John was finished and he was now in prison, that Jesus began to preach. But I don’t think so. I think when the fullness of John’s public ministry was complete, it now became the moment where Jesus was to take his place. It was orchestration.
Understanding orchestration matters. There are times when it is our moment to be the spotlight and lead, and there are times when others must shine. There are times when our ministry takes its moment in leading a move of God in our area or even nation and then at times where someone else’s ministry. It doesn’t mean we are any less value or our ministries are not so important, it just means that there’s a conductor who is making beautiful music. No one person or ministry is meant to be playing the whole time. Can you imagine a trumpeter blasting his horn the whole time of the orchestra? Or a cymbal clanging over and over throughout a musical number? Would not be pleasant. But a trumpet solo in the middle of a jazz piece, or a single clang of a cymbal in the 1812 Overture? Powerful!
There’s a time and place for everything. It’s the orchestra. We must learn to shine when it’s our turn to be in the spotlight. And to do our best to let others shine when it’s their turn. No one is deemed less. No one is more special than another. It’s orchestration.